


Social Spider

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Sam Wilson, Canonical Character Death, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Gen, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, POV Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov Friendship, SHIELD, Sign Language, Texting, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:26:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6135211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes Natasha a week to find out who Spider-Man is. The man- the teenager she later finds- is careful, but Natasha wouldn't be alive if she wasn't good at her job. She knows how to be patient and after six days of waiting and watching, Spider-Man leads her right to his door. </p><p>-</p><p>In which Natasha Romanov is sent to discover Spider-Man's identity for Shield, but makes a different decision when it comes down to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It takes Natasha a week to find out who Spider-Man is. The man- the teenager she later finds- is careful, but Natasha wouldn't be alive if she wasn't good at her job. She knows how to be patient and after six days of waiting and watching, Spider-Man leads her right to his door.

She stands on the corner of the street, watching as he runs across the rooftops, quick and careful. He drops down onto the porch roof and slips inside with ease, leaving the window open. She follows after a few minutes.

She doesn't scale the house, but finds a nearby tree. Spring has come early and the blossoming leaves hide her well. She kneels on a branch and makes herself small. She waits.

She can see into the room. It's dark inside and out. Sunrise is coming soon. Spider-Man leaves the lights off, making sure not to draw any undue attention from his neighbors. She hears a crash and Spider-Man muttering to himself. A moment later, a soft glow of a computer fills the room.

The room is a lot messier than she would have guessed. There are books everywhere and clothes. The walls are covered with posters and pictures, some of them snapshots that she concludes he must have taken himself. The closet door is open and she can see clothes hanging inside. A boot goes sailing in, followed by another.

Spider-Man grabs some clothes and disappears into another room. Faintly, she hears a shower come on.

She takes the opportunity to slip inside his room, through the window he had used. She intends on surprising him, on scaring him just a little. Her orders had been to find out who he was. She is suppose to give him a message.

Shield is watching him. They  are very interested in what he has to offer to the world. If he keeps his nose clean, he might have a place in Fury's new project.

If he doesn't, SHIELD is going to make him disappear. So far, Spider-Man has been a blessing. He's stopped New York from turning into a hive of mutant lizards. He has been protecting his part of the city for close to a year. The city is starting to accept him, but if he screws up, Shield will make sure the city knows.

The room is even more of a mess once she's inside. She glances at his computer and sees a picture of a teenage girl. Her first guess is sister, maybe even daughter. She takes a moment to memorize her face. If she's in the records, she'll be able to find out who she is.

She checks on the bathroom door, which is shut. The water is still running so she continues her exploration. The bed is unmade and the desk is overflowing with papers and books and stacks of photos. She looks at the photos tacked to the walls, the girl being the most obvious. There are others though. There's a man in glasses and an older woman. Other teenagers and shots of Spider-Man himself. She rolls her eyes and glances at the books.

A lot of them deal with photography but others are science and math. She spots two very familiar books, each of them a collection of papers. One of them was written by Tony Stark and the other by Bruce Banner. She frowns, flipping one open.

It's full of notes, little sketches and thoughts. She skims a few before deciding they mostly deal with the subject itself. She goes to the other and finds them much the same. She moves them to the side and pauses.

A text book lies open beneath the clutter. She stares only for a moment before taking the book and flipping to the front, checking for a name. It's a new text book, released that year. There's only one name at the front.

Peter Parker.

She puts everything back where she found it and looks back at the computer. She glances around the room again, a rapidly growing suspicious gnawing at her thoughts. 

She climbs back out of the room before the shower turns off. She can wait a few more minutes, just to be sure. It can't hurt.

When Spider-Man comes out of the bathroom, his suit is gone. He's wearing what could pass as pajamas and his hair is still dripping. His cheeks are rosy and his eyes fight to remain open.

He's so much younger than she expected him to be. He looks barely seventeen. In the soft light and exhaustion driving him to bed, he looks younger.

She decides she needs more intel before she approaches him.

She'll keep her knowledge to herself, at least until she can find out more. It's never smart to jump to conclusions. 

-

The older woman from the photos leaves around six. She pauses in the door way, shouting back into the house that she left eggs on the table. She calls him Peter.

Peter leaves a little after her. He has to double back into the house twice, first for a book and second for his backpack.  He carries a skateboard with him, but only uses it when no one is around. 

Natasha follows behind him, keeping her distance. She's careful to keep out of sight and far enough away that he shouldn't be able to hear, even with superpowers.

Even so, every once in awhile he looks back, a confused look on his face. He slows, taking in his surroundings, being careful not to look too obvious about it. She can tell he's pretending to be relaxed, pretending that nothing is wrong.

When they reach the subway, she gets on the train right next to him. He's taller than her by half a foot, but her boots help even things out. She doesn't look at him, pretends to ignore him completely. His gaze skates right over her when he looks around again.

SHIELD must have been on to something when they theorized all his senses were heightened. She must be setting something off, something that is making him hesitant and wary.

She beats him off the train, jogging up the steps. He comes out after a few minutes, fighting to act normal. He's not very good at it. She doesn't how he could have possibly lasted this long without someone figuring it out.

They reach Midtown High school about five minutes before eight. He breaks into a jog and she remains behind, watching as he disappears through the doors.

She doesn't go far, only a block over. She gets herself something to eat and after, finds a good place to sit and wait.

-

She catches sight of the girl, the one from his computer, striding across the field a little after twelve. She finds a seat in the bleachers, far away form everyone else. It takes Peter only a few minutes to join her.

She can't hear them, but she sees the way they lean together, the way they smile. They're close, probably even dating. When Peter rises, tense and in a hurry, the girl catches his arm, gives him a smile, and waves him away.

Natasha doesn't follow.

-

The girl is Gwen Stacy. It's not hard to find out. There's mention of her father's death and a little digging shows that Gwen worked at Oscorp. A little further and everything starts to make more sense.

Natasha puts it together, follows it back to the beginning. She finds information about the Parkers online. She reads about their research and then their sudden disappearance with thousand of dollars of data. She finds Benjamin Parker's death too. She can trace the legacy of Spider-Man from that moment.

It's not that hard, now that she knows who he is, why he is.

She finds that there is a decision to be made though, one that shouldn't even be bothering her. She knows whose side she is on, knows even better what her job is. But the idea of turning over a child to feels wrong. Even if he's old enough to go out and risk his life every night. Even if he's strong enough to handle whatever SHIELD would throw at him.

He turns eighteen in ten months. She can wait until then. She can give him the rest of his childhood. She tells herself it has nothing to do with her own childhood being stolen away. He just can't sign a contract until he's eighteen anyway. That's all there is to it.

When she reports back, she says clearly that she couldn't find anything. Spider-Man's identity wasn't something she could get her hands on.

She takes the blow to her reputation in stride. It's not the worse thing she's ever done.

It might just be one of the better.

-

The next time Natasha sees Peter Parker, it's been a little less than an month and they're both fighting for their lives. Later, they'll call it the Battle of New York. At that moment, Natasha fondly calls is a fucking shit storm. She's bleeding and she's so tired. The aliens just keep coming. If they don't do something, anything, they're going to lose.

She sees him out of the corner of her eye, a fleeting red and blue shape. He's only fighting when he has to. For the most part, he's getting people out of the way and creating huge webs between buildings. Whatever his webs are made of, it's some strong stuff. It's stopping some of them in their tracks.

She looks at him full on just once and only for a moment.

She feels a surprising amount of pride.

Then, she gets back to fighting.

-

She finds him sprawled out on top of a cop car after the battle. They're limping towards the Shawarma place that Tony had suggested when she sees him out of the corner of her eye. She veers away from the group, who are sluggishly walking. They're all leaning on each other, more bruise and cut than unharmed skin.

Only Clint notices, turning to watch her walk away. After a moment, he follows, keeping the others in sight.

Peter doesn't stir at first. She stares hard at his chest as she draws closer. He's breathing, at least. When she gets close enough to touch, he sits bolt right, clearly startled. She halts, just a few feet away from the car.

His mask is covered in dust and blood. One of his eye lenses is cracked and she imagines he has one hell of a black eye. He covered in cuts and under the tatters of his suit, she's sure there are bruises. He wheezes as he rises, in pain. There's a gash on his shoulder that has bleed a fuck ton, but seems to already be healing. The bleeding has stopped at least.

He assesses her. After a moment, his mask moves.

He smiles at her. “Some fight, huh?”

“You seemed to hold your own.”

“It's New York,” he shrugs. “You either fight or get stepped on by giant aliens.”

She smiles in return, a smile twitch of her lips. She hears footsteps and glances back at Clint. He gives her a look, one she reads as, 'really?'

Then he looks at Peter and raises his hand. “Yo, Spidey. We're going to get some food. You hungry?”

“I could eat,” he says softly. Then he turns to look back at the city. It's in ruins, parts of buildings everywhere. The street is hauntingly empty, but she can hear sirens far in the distance. The city is in shock, but soon it'll be coming back to life. Peter's shoulders slump, exhaustion weighing him down. He looks guilty, like this is his fault. It's like he feels personally responsible for the entirety of New York.

She cuts off whatever thoughts are running through his head. That kind of thinking will only drown him. “You've done enough for now. They'll still be there after.”

Peter gives a deep, full body sigh. Then he slides off the car and follows them towards the Shawarma place.

-

Tony lifts his hand and waves to them when they walk in.

“Spider-Man,” Tony greets. “Nice to see you joined the party.”

“Well, you decided to throw it in my backyard.” Peter says, taking a seat next to Thor. He's dwarfed next to him. “Wow, you're big.”

“I am Thor of Asgard.” He offers, but says no more.

“Spider-Man. You're the guy who was doing the lightning thing, right?”

Thor puffs up, just a little. “I am.”

“That was awesome, man.”

“Thank you. Your webs were infinitely helpful.”

Peter ducks his head.

Steve clears his throat and awkwardly asks, “Who are you?”

Peter props up his head, taking them in. “I could ask the same of you.”

“The Avengers or some such,” Tony mutters.

Clint takes it upon himself to introduce each other them. He takes a few liberties with himself. “I'm the best. You can call me The Amazing Hawkeye or King Clint. If I deem you worthy, I'll answer.”

Peter visibly perks up when Clint points to Bruce. “Doctor Banner? I've read all of your papers.”

Bruce stiffens at his name, but then raises an eyebrow. “All of them?”

“Yeah, totally. Tony referenced your work a few times in his papers, so I checked them out.”

Bruce glances at Tony, amusement dancing on his face. “Really?”

“Your thoughts on teleporters were clever,” is all Tony says.

The three of them launch into a discussion about teleporters that only ends when the food arrives. Peter rolls his mask up over his nose and digs in. He eats like he's starving, paying no mind to the bruise that spans from the tip of his chin, all the way up to his cheek and beyond. It's dark purple, already starting to fade. She wonders how long it will take for it to be gone entirely.

The seven of them eat in silence and after a while, Natasha finds her feet on the edge of Clint's chair. He adds his leg to her's. By the end of the meal, everyone is leaning on the table or each other. Peter has pushed away his empty baskets, laying his head down on the table. He doesn't make a noise, but he's very much asleep.

It's peaceful, just the seven of them. Natasha savors the moment. Eventually, she'll need to get up and all the muted aches and pains will rush back. There is so much more work that needs to be done. She lets it wait, just for a few more minutes.

-

The next six months are a rush of activity. There isn't a moment to breathe, not a moment of peace. New York rebuilds and SHIELD sends her and Clint on more and more missions. Bruce and Tony retire to the tower and Thor returns to Asgard, taking Loki with him. Steve moves to D.C., probably to get away from the city that had changed while he was asleep.

Natasha checks up on Peter when she can.

He's still doing the spider thing. She doesn't know how he does it, juggling school and vigilantism and his family. In that time, half of New York's police are implemented in mob activity and most disappear. New York breaths, rebuilds, and reveres Spider-Man. They adjust to the presence of the Avengers' Tower.

Then she gets sent to D.C. and every shit in the shit garden hits the fan.

-

SHIELD crashes into the river and she gives away all her secrets. Steve looks at her with pride, Sam looks at her with respect. Sam and Steve take off for parts unknown and Natasha goes to the only place she knows.

It's not like she knocks on the door. But when she gets into the elevator, Jarvis greets her.

“Ms. Romanov, Mr. Stark will be pleased that you decided to visit.”

“I've actually decided to take him up on his offer.”

“Oh?” Jarvis asks. “Mr. Stark will be quiet happy.” He amends. 

She knows Jarvis means smug. “Is Bruce here?” She asks.

“Yes, he is. Will Mr. Barton be joining us?”

She hopes so. It's been three weeks. She doesn't know where Clint was when the files went live, but she hopes he got out of okay. His phone was dead and none of her contacts can tell her anything. She just hopes he'll find her.

-

Clint saunters in on a Tuesday night, looking beat to hell and missing both of his hearing aids. She hugs him, enveloping him in her arms. She's smaller than him, always has been, but he ducks down, lets her cover him.

She doesn't ask where he's been. If he wants to tell her, he will. If he does, she'll listen. 

-

It becomes a habit. When Fury isn't feeding her little missions and Steve isn't calling from parts unknown, she watches Peter. His birthday comes and goes and she's glad she made the decision not to give him to SHIELD. So many people, people who didn't deserve it, got uncovered. But Peter lucked out. Spider-Man's file was sparse. It was labeled as an interesting subject. All theories regarding his mutation and his identity were nothing more than speculation.

Peter Parker and what remains of his family are safe.

For the most part, Peter takes care of New York. Sometimes the four Avengers go and help, depending on the size of the threat. For the most part, they deal more with national threats than local.

Some time later, a man tries to take over California using hybrid bear lizards. The Hulk rounds them up and sends them to a zoo. A few days later some Floridan woman tries to train Alligators to attack on command. Turns out she had more powers than they thought. The next day someone in London sets three buildings on fire using pyrokinesis. The rest of the month goes about the same.

Natasha's life settles into interesting spikes of activity and slow moments. During the slow, she checks up on her favorite Spider.

She's chasing a ghost with Steve in parts unnamed when Electro shows up. By the time she returns to the States, Gwen Stacy is dead and Spider-Man is gone.

The only thing that remains is Peter Parker, a ghost of the sarcastic little shit she had come to know.

She does the only thing she can think of. She fills out an application to intern at Stark Industries and mails it in. She doesn't tamper with the choice, but she does make sure it ends up on the top of the stack.

The acceptance letter is sent out one month after they bury Gwen.

She makes sure she's there to greet Peter Parker the first day of his internship.

It's a good thing that she's a much better actor than he is. She almost laughs when his mouth drops open in surprise.

“Hello, Mr. Parker,” she says when she greets him at the front desk. “I'll be showing you around the tower today.”


	2. Chapter 2

Peter continues to gap at her for a few minutes before snapping his mouth shut. She keeps her smile kind and soft, waiting for him to gather himself. She worries he might panic and run. Instead, he squares his shoulders and shakes her hand.

“It's nice to meet you, Ms. Romanov.”

“Call me, Natasha.” She tells him.

“Okay, call me Peter.” He offers in turn.

He's wearing thick glasses that cover up most of his face. His jacket is large enough that he can huddle into it. He folds his arms, hunches a little. It's like he's trying tom make himself disappear. He looks small and breakable.

She takes his arm and leads him to the elevator.

“I'll show you the labs first.” She says, letting go of his arm once they're in the elevator. She takes care to keep her body open. She keeps her voice friendly.

It's odd how little of an act it all is.

She shows him the first three floors of labs. She doesn't bother with the other three, those filled with boring experiments like better wifi and longer battery life.

His face lights up at the strangest things. They stop to talk to a woman who is working on synthetic silk and only leave when a timer goes off behind her. Peter perks up the more they look at. Natasha keeps her arms at her sides unless she's pointing towards something that she thinks might catch his interest. She finds her arm up more than down.

When they finish talking to the last person in the lab, Natasha takes them the long way back to the elevators. The hallway is long and one side is just ceiling to floor windows. Natasha can see the whole city at a glance. Peter slows, peering out the windows. His eyes are sad and guilty.

“We have several more places to go. After, we can take a break for lunch and then you're free to wander the nonrestrictive areas for the rest of day. Jarvis will tell you if the area is restricted or not.” Natasha draws his attention away, back to the tour.

“Jarvis?” He asks.

“You're about to meet him,” Natasha says, stepping into the elevator.

Peter steps in next to her and the doors close.

Natasha keeps her face straight as she speaks. “Jarvis, can you take us up?”

“Yes, Ms. Romanov,” Jarvis' says and the elevator lurches upwards.

Peter startles, badly. Natasha looks away just long enough for the smile to spread and fade, then looks back. Peter's eyes are wide with curiosity and surprise.

“Who?” He asks.

“Jarvis, I'd like you to meet Peter Parker. He's one of the new interns.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Parker. If you need anything, you need only ask.”

Peter murmurs a greeting in return, recognition spreading across his face. Natasha had figured he'd read something about Jarvis. Tony liked to brag and Jarvis was worth bragging about.

“Can I talk to you anywhere in the Tower?”

“You can,” Jarvis assures him. “I have am fulling integrated into the Tower.”

“That's so cool,” Peter breathes. “Jarvis, what is your favorite song?”

“Master Stark would like me to say it's the Iron Man theme he had commissioned,” Jarvis says dryly. Natasha almost chokes on her laughter. Leave it to Tony to create his own theme song.

“But it's not?” Peter asks.

“No.” Jarvis tells them after a long, thoughtful moment. “Raindrop by Fredrick Chopin. And yours, Mr. Parker?”

“Call Me Maybe,” Peter answers without missing a beat. Peter smiles, proud of the joke, but it quickly fades away.

It's like he feels guilty for even being happy for a moment.

“Wonderful choice.” Jarvis sounds amused. “Would you like me to play it?”

“Sure. Thank you, Jarvis.”

 _Call Me Maybe_ fills the air inside the elevator. Peter is quiet for the rest of the ride.

-

The lab is actually restricted to the fifteen floors reserved to the Avengers, but Peter's internship grants him access to both the lab and the common rooms three floors below. Jarvis lets them off on the floor, the music fading away as the elevator doors close behind them.

The lab is large and open, almost exactly like Tony's. It's a little less messy, but more finished and focused. There is a lot of chrome colors, making the lab shiny and futuristic. Natasha figures it's more of a fashion statement than for any real reason. A dozen electronic white boards are clustered around the room, crunched up and curvy writing spread scrawled across them.

Bruce is bent over a metallic console, typing furiously. The table to his write is stacked with books and coffee cups. Natasha can tell from his clothes that he's been in the lab since the day before. She rolls her eyes.

Scientists.

Peter draws up short when he catches sight of Bruce, but Natasha links their arms and pulls him along. Peter drags his feet, but doesn't resist. Bruce doesn't look up until they're standing directly beside him. His eyes stray to them, even as he continues typing. It takes him a moment to actually notice them and when he does, he quits typing and stares.

His brows knit in confusion and he frowns.

“Natasha?”

“Bruce, this is Peter Parker. He's one of your new interns.” Natasha introduces, letting go of his arm.

Peter's eyes jerk to her, his mouth dropping open. She wonders if he even read the letter completely. Maybe the letter just didn't mention _who_ he was interning with at Stark Industries. Either way, the surprise and shock is written all over his face.

It amuses her to no end.

“New intern...” Bruce murmurs, then his eyes widen. “Is today Tuesday?”

“It is,” she confirms.

Bruce takes off his glasses to rubs his eyes. “I thought it was Sunday,” he murmurs to himself. He cleans his glasses and returns them to his face. Standing up, he offers his hand. “Hello, Peter. Sorry for, you know,” Bruce waves at himself and the lab. “You've caught me a little off guard.” He explains.

“It's fine Dr. Banner.” Peter assures, finally getting over his surprise. The whole day seemed to be throwing him off balance. “What-What are you working on?”

Natasha takes a seat as Bruce takes Peter over to talk him through his equations on the boards. She listens with half an ear as she pulls out her Stark phone, the one Tony had forced into her hands as a house warming gift.

She texts Clint, who was in the Archery Range when she last saw him.

_To Clint:_

_Meet me in the kitchen in about twenty minutes._

_**From Clint:** _

_**Common?** _

_To Clint:_

_Yes._ :)

_**From Clint:** _

_**What's for lunch?** _

_To Clint:_

_Whatever you make._

_**From Clint:** _

_**I make a mean Chinese Take-Out.** _

Natasha looks up to see Peter gesturing wildly at the board, pointing to a set of scribbles that may be numbers, but are just as likely to be letters. Bruce is nodding slowly as he listens. A small smile lurks at the corners of his mouth, his eyes lighting up with surprised delight.

Peter isn't what he expected.

Peter rarely is.

She catches Peter's eye and mouths, “Chinese?”

He gives her a thumbs up, before jabbing his finger at another part. The two of them continue talking, both of their excitements mounting.

_To Clint:_

_Whip us up a batch. :)_

Clint texts back a series of emojis. Both and eggplant, wedding ring, and a horse are included. Natasha replies with a gun and a knife. She gets only one thing in return.

_**From Clint:** _

**:(**

_To Clint:_

_:p_

The elevator dings, as Natasha puts her phone away. Tony is tapping away at his Stark pad and talking to Jarvis. He looks like he got electrocuted, his hair standing up and a smudge of soot on his hands and face. She hadn't heard an explosion, so she guesses that he didn't blow the Tower to high hell. Probably just a small electrical fire.

He nods his head at her as he passes. For some reason, he smells like fried chicken.

“Bruce, you've got to check out these new readouts.” Tony announces grandly.

Bruce holds up a hand, bent almost double as he quickly rewrites a line of the equation. Natasha gets to her feet, mostly just so she can see the offended look that takes over Stark's face. The 'why I never' scandalized expression. She laughs out loud.

Tony gives her a look, but taps his foot and waits.

“Okay,” Bruce says, standing up straight and taking a step back.

“Now you just need to find a sustainable power source.” Peter murmurs. “Then it should work.”

Bruce nods his head. “I do believe you're right, Peter.” He says, giving Peter a bright smile.

Peter ducks his head and blushes as Bruce turns to take the Stark Pad that Tony hands off.

“Did we just solve world hunger?” Natasha asks.

Tony speed reads the board. “No, they just created a maintainable force field. Haven't you been stuck on this for a while, Bruce?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Peter helped me.” Bruce answers absentmindedly, already caught up in the next creation.

“You one of the new interns?” Tony asks.

Bruce pauses, glancing up for a moment. “Where are the others?”

“They're flying in tomorrow.” Natasha explains. Rain had postponed both of their flights. New York was grounded until the storms passed.

Tony's eyebrows raise. “When did you become a tour guide?”

Natasha gives him a flat stare. “When I had nothing better to do today.”

Whatever Tony is going to say is cut off as Bruce bumps the Stark pad. “Tony, this is amazing.”

“I know. Wanna see?”

“Do you mind, Peter?” Bruce asks.

Peter shakes his head. The blush is leaving his face, but he's glowing with accomplishment. He looks happy, at least for the moment. Whatever else, Natasha knows she made the right choice.

“Not at all.”

“Thank you. You will be here tomorrow, won't you?” Bruce asks.

“Yes,” Peter gives a tentative answer. Then, stronger, “yes, I'll be here.”

-

Clint is already in the kitchen when they get there. He fishing forks and plates out of the dish washer, humming loudly as he does so. The room smells sweet and spicy, like rice and chicken. The food is spread out on the bar, a small banquet of take-out. Music is blasting from some hidden speakers and it takes a minute for Natasha to realize that Clint is humming an entirely different song.

Clint waves at them over his shoulder, not bothering to turn until he has the plates in hand. She glances at the windows and can see both of their reflections in it. She's a good spy, but so is Clint. Even when he didn't want to be. Clint takes a seat across from them, handing out plates and silverware.

“They're on the fritz again,” Clint explains, making a vague gesture at his ears.

“You going to get someone to look at it?” Natasha asks, pulling a carton of rice to her. She keeps her face turned towards him. She's not going to make things harder for him.

“Eh, fuck it. I'll just get new ones or something.” Clint shrugs. He jerks his chin at Peter. “Who's our guest?”

Another round of introductions and they all settle in to eat. Peter is stuffing his face with as much food as he can get his hands on. She wonders if he's just always hungry. It's either a spider thing, or just a Peter thing. He doesn't slow down until Clint speaks.

“So, who's your favorite Avenger, Peter?”

Peter stops with a fork halfway to his mouth. “Favorite?”

“Yeah. This is of vital importance.”

“I don't have a favorite.”

“Everyone has a favorite. Right, Nat?”

“No,” she says and goes back to eating.

“Okay, she doesn't. Everyone else does?”

“Who's your favorite?” Peter asks instead.

“Me. It's in my contract. Now, quiet dillydallying. Spit it out.”

“I guess everyone.”

Clint sighs loudly. “Okay, how about we make it easy. Thor or Captain America?”

“Both.”

“Iron Man or the Hulk?” Clint asks in rapid succession.

“Who can pick?”

“The Black Widow or Hawkeye?”

“Don't you mean the Amazing Hawkeye?” Peter jokes.

Clint doesn't speak for a second and Natasha glances up. _Oh,_ Natasha thinks.

Shock is written across Clint's face, but he quickly masks it with a smile. “Okay, one more. Spider-Man or the Avengers?”

Peter doesn't hesitate. “The Avengers.” 

-

After lunch, Peter leaves to go explore the rest of the Tower. Natasha and Clint clean up, raking everything that can't be put in the refrigerator into the trash. Clint doesn't say anything until Peter is gone.

Then he turns to her, demanding, “Did you know?”

Natasha doesn't lie. Why would she? She trusts Clint with her life. She trusts Clint with everything. Peter is no different.

“Yes. What gave it away?”

“The way he spoke looked familiar.”

And then he made a joke, Natasha fills in the rest. “This stays with us, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. But how?” Clint demands. “He's like twelve!”

“I'll tell you everything later,” Natasha says and quickly signs one word. _Jarvis._

Clint nods. “Later,” he agrees. _Fucking twelve!_ He signs and she laughs.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha tells Clint everything. 

The two of them go to a little coffee shop just around the corner. Natasha parks on the street and they leave their phones in the car. It's nothing against Tony or Jarvis, Natasha just doesn't want the possibility looming over her. Together, they find a table inside the building, driven inside by the rain. Natasha gets sweet tea and Clint gets a caramel frappuccino.

When they're stashed away in a corner, Natasha starts at the beginning. They're careful with their words, but no one pays them any mind. Clint listens and remains quiet. He nods and sips at his drink, signs when she hesitates. _Go on._

At one point, Clint asks, _When did he get his powers?_

_Likely a few months before his seventeenth birthday._

Clint grins and signs, _Twelve._ He thinks he's the funniest man on earth.

Natasha rolls her eyes. _He's eighteen,_ she corrects.

_I'll believe that when pigs fly._

_What about whales?_ She asks, thinking of the Battle of New York. She amends, _whale like?_

 _Finish telling me about the Spider-Baby._ Clint prompts instead of answering.

Natasha continues, picking up where she left off. She only stops when she gets to Gwen.

Clint helps her along. _He hasn't been sighted in a month. What happened?_

“Gwen died.” She says softly. Then, _He's grieving._

Neither of them do anything for a minute. Clint mauls that over and Natasha drinks her tea. Clint's frappuccino is gone, the cup scrapped clean. Clint chews on his straw, holding it in his mouth like a cigar. Finally, he draws her attention back to him.

 _Did you have something to do with the internship?_ He asks, eyes alight. He's smiling and she can see a softness hidden behind his teasing question. He's got her back, whatever comes.

_Not as much as you'd think. It'll help though. At least until he's ready to come back._

_What if he doesn't come back?_ He looks so serious, like he's breaking bad news to her. 

Natasha doesn't believe for a moment that he won't come back. Spider-Man isn't a costume he puts on. Peter is Spider-Man in every since way. Even when he's not saving people, even when he's not being a superhero, he still is. You can't just leave something like that behind, folded up in your closet and gathering dust.

She doesn't say that though. She grins and replies, _Want to bet on it?_

Clint rolls his eyes. _No, you're already stacking the odds against me._

_That's my job._

_

The next few days settle into a new routine. The two other interns arrive and Bruce puts them to work. At lunch time, the four of them come down to the common rooms to eat lunch. Clint makes it his mission to be there and Natasha just happens to be getting lunch at the same time. Clint gives her a knowing smile, the one that she returns with a carefully blank look.

The two other interns, Leighton from Mexico and Maria from England, are there too. They both pull Peter into conversations, everything from Star Trek to photosynthesis. Peter talks, but his voice never rises beyond a normal volume. He smiles though, and that's enough.

-

The following Thursday, Natasha arrives a little late for lunch. She's about to enter the kitchen when she notices that there are only two occupants.

Peter is sitting at the counter, picking apart a salad. Tony leans against the counter across from him, a Stark pad in between them. A stylus is tucked behind one ear. He taps something on the pad, then turns it for Peter to see.

“Highlight the lines of code that won't work.”

Peter pushes his salad-which is actually more chicken than lettuce-aside. He pulls the pad a little closer and his eyes start flickering over the lines. His finger taps and slides, the kitchen going quiet. Tony watches closely.

“Why am I doing this?” Peter asks after a few minutes.

Instead, Tony taps the edge of the pad. “Did you forget something?”

Peter shakes his head. “No, that one will work if the others are fixed.”

“What about the line beneath?”

“That one should be moved.”

Tony nods and goes back to watching. After five minutes, Peter slides the pad back across the counter. He pulls the salad back in front of him and stabs at the chicken.

“Do I get to know why now? Or what the code is for?”

“Nope.” Tony pops the word as he looks over Peter's work. He nods once and says, “Good work, Parker.”

And that's it. He walks out of the kitchen, passing Natasha as she walks in. He doesn't seem to notice her, probably thinking about seven different things all at once. She isn't bothered by his dramatics. Tony gets things done, even if it means leaving people out of the loop until the last possible second. At least he does get it done.

-

Natasha gets a call from Sam that goes something like this:

“ _Do you know Esperanto?”_ It's been close to three months since Natasha heard anything from Sam and Steve. She could admit to herself that she was starting to get worried.

“No, I don't. Why?” She asks. The line is patchy at best and she heads to the roof, hoping for a better signal. It's not on her end, but it's worth a try.

“ _Well, we found this hydra guy and he kinda got hit on the head and now he only speaks Esperanto.”_ Sam sounds so done with the situation. It's not the strangest thing that they've told her. Not the strangest thing she's heard.

“I think Tony does. Let me go get him.”

“ _That would be great.”_ Sam sighs for a moment, long and drawn out. _“Maybe this will be the one to pan out.”_ He doesn't sound very hopeful.

The elevator dings and lets her out on one of Tony's floor. There is music playing, but it's not as loud as she expected it to be. Tony is tinkering with his suit, as he often does when he can't sleep. Dummy stands watch over him.

Natasha stops just outside of the elevator. “You miss home?”

“ _Naw,”_ Sam says softly. _“I guess I miss air-conditioning and bad TV. Pancakes and the smell of fries any time you drive by a fast food place. You know, America.”_

She wants to say that he has a choice. He does, but he's already made it. Someone's got to stop Hydra and even Steve, the human wrecking ball that he is, can't do it on his own.

Sam seems to know what she's thinking because he huffs a little and says, _“I don't exactly have an apartment anymore, anyway. Can't exactly keep a home address when you're taking on a bunch of super villains, you know?”_

Natasha switches the phone from one ear to another. Then, “you and Steve have a place here, in the Tower. You both have for a long time.”

Sam laughs, a full sound that rings over the phone. _“Really?”_ There's a note of honest surprise behind his question.

“I wouldn't lie,” she says and it's true. She wouldn't lie about this. “Tony thought it would be a great idea to add a nest and bird wallpaper. It's awful, but I think it'd grow on you.”

“ _Don't tell me. Steve's is just completely decked out in Captain America merchandise.”_

“Almost entirely.” She assures him.

“ _I'll have to see it one day.”_

“It's the eighth wonder of the world.” Natasha starts across the room, catching Tony's attention.

Tony waves his hand and the music fades away. He spins in his chair to face her. She tells Sam goodbye and hands the phone over. She listens with half an ear as Tony starts translating for Sam and Steve.

On the work table is the left kneecap from the Iron Man suit. Natasha turns away, looking at the other little odds and ends. There are all sorts of gadgets, most of them in pieces. She's just glancing over them all when she sees a little black disk. It looks a lot like a compat memory, with a lot of chrome added in. A sticky note is attached to it.

_**Don't** test this on yourself. -Bruce _

Bruce might as well have dared him.

“Yeah, you've got everything. See you around, Wilson.” Tony hangs up and hands the phone over. “You ogling my goods, Romanov?”

“What's this? A new weapon?” She points at the disk.

“It's a teleporter. You wouldn't happen to want to test it, would you?”

“Not on your life,” she turns away from it, folding her arms over her chest. “Is this what you've been having Peter work on?”

“Been spying lately?” He asks, raising one eyebrow.

She mimics his expression. “Been obvious lately?”

He cracks a smile. “Bruce and I had already finished it. I wanted to see what Parker could do. The kid's sharp.”

“He's a good kid.” Natasha straightens and takes her phone back. “Goodnight, Tony.”

He waves his hand, both at her and at Jarvis. The music resumes.

-

A week later, the whole building shudders. Natasha rolls out of bed and has her gun in her hand before her feet hits the ground. She's sprinting for the door when she hears a booming voice that echoes throughout the building.

Natasha puts her gun away and takes the time to get dressed. By the time she actually gets to the common rooms, the other Avengers (minus one old man) are clustered there, along with the two women she only knows in passing.

“Natasha!” Thor booms, as loud as he always is. “It is good to see you.”

She almost draws up short. Thor isn't dressed in his normal armor, but instead in more earthy clothes. Mjolnir dangles from one hand, as weightless to him as it is heavy to everyone else.

“Hello, Thor. Nice to see you back on Earth. Hopefully this visit will be better than your last.”

“It already is,” Thor says, just a little gravely. Then his sunny personality returns. “But today is not a time for sorrow. Today is for celebrating being with friends.”

-

They call in for breakfast, a feast of food that just keeps coming. The seven of them try to cluster into the kitchen and the food crowds the counters and the island. The smells are just as loud as they are, all of them clamoring over each other. The entire table is covered in food, the logos bright and colorful. Natasha snags an entire breakfast pizza and takes a seat. Clint's plate appears at her elbow, a gentle nudge until she finally allows him to take a few slices.

Thor gives them a boisterous rendition of his exploits while he was gone. Darcy joins in everyone once in a while, chipping in when Thor gets ahead of himself. Jane gives reference to some of the creatures that Thor talks about, the ones that are distinctly different from earth creatures.

At some point Clint takes over, loudly relaying the story of SHIELD finding a permanent home in a river. He exaggerates the entire time, overselling the action and underselling the injuries. He wasn't even there, but he never actually mentions that part.

Near the end of breakfast, Natasha gives an abridged version of what Steve and Sam, who Thor has yet to meet, have been up to. She's finishing up when Maria sticks her head inside.

“Dr. Banner? Are we still working today?” She asks.

Bruce looks at his watch and quickly gives her an apologetic face. “Sorry, I'll be up in a minute.” Bruce gets up, pushing in his chair. “How long are you planning on staying?” Bruce asks them.

“Tony has provided us with lodgings,” Thor tells him.

“And job offers,” Darcy says nonchalantly. “With our funding in the toilet, and with Tony being rich as fuck, it's likely you'll never get rid of us.”

“Drop by the lab whenever you want to.” Bruce offers.

Jane stands up too. “Well, now is a good time for me. Darcy?”

“Yeah, let's do this.”

The three of them follow Maria back tot he lab, leaving the rest of them to clean up.

-

That afternoon, Natasha sees Darcy dragging Peter and Thor behind her. “You're gonna love this. You have not lived until you've played this game.”

For several hours after that, she can hear the three of them shouting at the TV and challenging each other to do better. Nothing gets broken, so she counts it as a win.

-

It's a Saturday when some woman with the ability to steal people's life force tries to take over San Francisco. Thor flings his hammer and takes her off her feet. They all make sure not to touch her skin when they take her into custody. Even so, Natasha sleeps for half the day and wakes up at midnight that night.

She goes down tot he common room, looking for food or company, and finds Peter asleep at the kitchen table. A cup of lukewarm coffee sits at his elbow. She had thought all the interns had gone home when they got called away. Natasha doesn't wake him up until after she finds herself something to eat. Then she sits across from him, letting the plate thump against he table.

Peter doesn't stir for a moment. When he does, it's slow and sluggish. His blinks are long and tired, his head nodding during each blink. Finally, he sits up straight and draws the coffee to him.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, voice sleep roughened. “What time is it?”

“One,” Natasha hands over one of her sandwiches. Peter stares at it, then proceeds try to dip it in his coffee. He aborts the motion at the last moment, giving her a sheepish smile. “Weren't you suppose to go home?” She asks.

“I was going to, but then I decided to sleep on your table instead.”

“It's a nice table. Our couch is better though, in case you wanted to move to it.”

“Thanks, but I should probably get going. My aunt gets off at two and I need to meet her at the station.”

“Want a ride?” She asks.

Peter shakes his head. “Too much traffic. I can run faster.”

Peter finishes his sandwiches and drains his coffee. Natasha eats slowly. When Peter gets up to go, she tells him, “Be careful, Peter.”

He grins, cocky and assured. “Don't worry. I can always tell where the danger is.”

Natasha is well aware of that. Peter leaves with a wave. She finishes her food and puts their dishes in the sink. Then she goes and watches TV until work day starts. She listens to the elevator until it's come from the lobby to the lab three times. Then she gets up and goes back to bed.

-

It's three in the morning when Natasha gets another call from Sam and Steve. The call is surprisingly clear, no sudden silences or crackles. It's Steve, sounding tired and sad. She's awake as soon as she hears his voice, expecting trouble.

“ _Hey, Natasha. Sorry about calling so late.”_

“What's the issue?” She asks, already getting out of bed and getting dressed.

“ _Nothing,”_ Steve sighs. _“Nothing at all.”_ They ran out of leads, ran out of places they needed to be. They had finally decided to take a break.

She doesn't stop stop getting dressed, but she does slow down. “Where are you?”

“ _We're actually in Nevada. I was hoping you could get Tony to send out his jet. Or have Clint come pick us up.”_

“Is Sam with you?”

“ _Yeah. He's catching up on some sleep. It's been a long day.”_

She can only guess where it is they're coming from. She pulls on her jacket and takes the stairs down to Clint's floor.

“I'll go wake up Clint. Text me your location and we'll be there in a few.”

“ _Thank you, Natasha. It's good being back.”_

“I'm sure America has missed its Captain.” She teases.

He laughs once and hangs up. A minute later, she gets a message with an address.

The door to Clint's floor unlocks with her thumbprint. The living room is neat enough, a bunch of video games and books stacked on all the surfaces. A Lego set sits on the kitchen table, half complete. She knows that one of the rooms is full of them, a small Lego utopia. A small, hand made blanket, is thrown over a chair.

She knocks on Clint's bedroom door and keeps knocking until she hears the grumbling on the other side. Clint hair sticks up in fluffy tuffs when he finally pulls the door open. He stands with a sleepy ease that she can tell is forced. He's wide awake, even though he rather be asleep.

“Get dressed. We got a pickup to make.”

“Can't a guy get some sleep?” He grumbles, but he pulls the door shut behind him.

-

They land the jet in a parking lot of a Walmart. An old man on his cigerate break scrambles back into the store. Sam and Steve are there when they open the bay doors and they both surprise her with a hug.

“Can't believe I'm going to say this, but God, I've missed Walmart.” Sam jokes.

He has a bruise across his face and his wings are stored away in a backpack. He looks a lot better off than Steve, who is supporting a broken nose and needs a hair cut something fierce. When he hugs her, he smells too much like swamp water.

“Have a nice trip?” She asks.

“The best,” he drawls.

Sam leaves Steve and Natasha in the back of the plane, going to sit up front with Clint. Clint greets him with a bird pun. Natasha closes the hanger door and in a minute they're up in the air and flying back towards New York. Natasha's stomach gets left and she fills the pit with chatter.

“What happened?”

Steve smiles grimly. “We destroyed Hydra.”

“All of it?”

He shakes his head, just once. “I don't think we could destroy it all. But we did enough.”

“Why are you home, Steve?” She asks softly, cutting through all the bullshit. She knows he wouldn't just let it go. Something must have happened.

Steve settles back into the chair. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. She thinks he's going to ignore her question, just go to sleep. Instead, he replies, just as soft as she had.

“Bucky doesn't want to be found.”

He leaves it at that.

-

Sam meets Peter the next day. The two of them joke about bad Captain America comics and the possibility of x-ray vision. Peter talks Sam into trying out Bruce's force field creator. Paired with the wings, it turns Sam into a flying canon ball. Sam uses it to take out a creature from another dimension the next week. It's the first time the entirety of the Avengers have been back together. It's also the first time Falcon fights along side them.

The fight is shorter than expected and they head home victorious.

-

People speculate, as they always do. After the fight with Falcon, the news is filled with images of him, filled with questions and theories. Most people think he's an Avenger and others assume he's another solitary hero.

At some point, Sam says, “we should probably release a statement stating that I'm not a part of the Avengers.”

Steve blinks at him. “You pretty much are.”

“What?”

Natasha pats his shoulder. “You might want to buy a new suit. I think Pepper is planning a press conference.”

“Isn't there a system in place? I can't just become an Avenger.” Sam protests.

“The system is us asking you and you either saying yes or no. Do you want to be a part of the team?” Tony doesn't look away from the TV. He sounds bored more than anything.

Sam swallows, hard. “Yeah.”

“Congratulations, you're an Avenger.” Tony claps a few times and that's that.

Sam Wilson becoming an Avenger is rather underwhelming. The press conference is not. They have to move it outside and Sam dresses in a navy blue. The public gobbles him up and for a month, the only thing on TV is Sam and footage of Falcon.

-

Natasha doesn't know when Steve finally meets Peter. All she knows is that one day she comes down to find Steve sketching, using Polaroid pictures as references. When she asks, Steve smiles.

“Peter gave them to me.” He explains. He gestures at the pictures. “I miss having something to hold.”

She nods. “It's looking good.”

He thanks her and continues to sketch.

-

The seven of them fight numerous villains and celebrate with huge feasts. They return to the Tower and go back to whatever they were doing. Natasha spends time with Clint and Peter, trains with Sam and Steve. She talks to Tony and Bruce when they come down from their labs and makes sure that Thor doesn't try to take on alligators.

Things are about as good as they ever could be.

Then robots take over New York. 

 


End file.
